


Argus and Ashsong

by cymrymira



Series: The Adventures of Kit and Leona and a Few Other Friends! [13]
Category: Original characters - Fandom, World of Warcraft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-20 17:14:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 6,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17026794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cymrymira/pseuds/cymrymira
Summary: After Varotin and Leona convince her to go to Argus, Mira faces the one she thinks to be her Father.





	1. Family Vacation

**Family Vacation**

“No.”  
  
 _“BUT MIRA!”_  
 _“BUT MAMA!”  
_  
She crossed her arms as she looked at Varotin and Leona who exchanged a quick look, then the girl started, “But wouldn’t the General want us to catalogue all the flora and fauna on Argus?”  
  
“I’m certain that Theravir has that well in hand, if they need me to do so, then they would ask,” Mira drummed her fingers on her arm, and stared at Varotin, daring him to try and make some sort of petty argument…  
  
 _“I HAVE TO MEET YOUR PARENTS!”  
_  
She stepped back, not expecting that, and Leona gasped, quickly going to whisper to her father, and he smirked and whispered back to her.   
  
“There’s no reason to,” Mira said, trying to decipher what the two were planning through her bond with Varotin and frowned at the block that was suddenly thrown up, “They’ll more than likely kill you. My sisters have made it clear that I’m to pay for betraying the Legion.”  
  
“Your brother likes me.”  
  
“My brother thinks that you’re  _interesting_. There’s a difference.”  
  
Leona took a breath, “But he HAS to meet them! And pass a test for your hand! It’s in ALL the books!”  
  
Varotin grinned at that, and Mira frowned, thinking back to the confusing research on weddings.  
  
There  _was_  something about parental approval for the bride…  
  
“…are you certain? Cero has agreed to give me away…?” she was faltering and both jumped on it.  
  
“Absolutely! I have to prove that I’ll be the best husband ever!”  
  
“And if your family’s evil, then Papa has to defeat them anyways! Or you can’t marry him!” both father and daughter grinned, and then Leona added the kicker, “Besides… we haven’t had a good family vacation in ages!”  
  
Mira took a breath.  
  
Both leaned forward.  
  
“…alright fine,” she placed her hands on her hips, “But we take every precaution possible. And you both report to Darnath and accept every tracker he wants to inject into you…” she sighed, “I already have the bloodstone trackers sent to Cero.”  
  
Varotin and Leona cheered and went to hug her, and she frowned for half a second more before letting a small smile dance across her face.  
  
“Hey can Talah come with us too?”  
  
 _This… may end up being a long vacation._  



	2. Arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This first part of this is an “oops my hand slip” based on some beautiful art from Fire Emblem: Shadows of Valentia I reblogged from @conclave-of-knives
> 
> In other words, the mysterious author of the Trials of the Dragon’s Knight just sent Leona a new book :D

**Arrival**

_Once upon a time, there was a Prince and a Princess, both belonging to kingdoms on separate sides of a war, and they fell in love, swearing to end the strife of their people and to bring about peace._  
  
…it did not happen. The Princess was found out by her brother, he attacked both of them, yet they escaped, and the Prince went to a trusted friend of his, a General of his father’s armies, one that had performed their secret marriage some months earlier, then parted the next morning.  
  
The Prince died that day, there was a challenge, a single combat would end the war, and both of them, the Lover and the Brother, died in the duel.   
  
The war had ended.  
  
Yet, peace had not come.  
  
One kingdom’s ruler declined into health at the death of his only son and heir, and his counselor started to take power, slowly at first, but then hand over fist. The other’s Queen turned tyrannical, searching for the Lost Princess, and never suspecting what had truly transpired as she put her trust into a Organization that would find the answers for her.  
  
The Princess never returned to her home, when the news of the single combat came, she wasted, only saving her strength for the new life that she was carrying, and when the baby was born, she died, all her strength and conviction passed on, and there was no saving her.  
  
The General gave the infant Princess to one of his trusted students, at the time judging her existence to not be a safe one, and sent her to stay with a trusted confederate of the Prince.  
  
Armed with the knowledge that there was an heir to the Kingdoms, that there could one day be peace… the General set to work, planting the riddles that would lead the way to a rule of peace and prosperity. He was a patient man, and there were such heavy burdens on such small shoulders.  
  
The child Princess was the only hope for the future of them all.

_  
_Leona glanced up as the Vindicator lurched forward, her eyes a little wide as she noticed everyone running around, and put her new book away as she stood and glanced over to her parents.  
  
Mama was pale, too much Light near her, and Papa was holding her steady. It’d probably be up to her when they landed then, at least until they made camp on Argus and Mama got away from the ship.  
  
She didn’t know if Talah had followed them, though she hoped that he did, and went to ask what had happened, when the ship shuddered again, and she frowned, recognizing what was going on.  
  
It was a ship after all. She may not be up in the rigging, and it was a sea of stars instead of water, but…   
  
 _We’re being attacked. That’s cannon fire.  
_  
She paled as a second thought hit the small girl, _Didn’t they realize we’d be noticed right away?!?  
_  
Already people were disembarking, and she grabbed her helm and pushed herself into the group of champions headed for the surface, relying on the same thing that helped her get to Broken Shore, no one would look too closely at her, and with her helmet on, may even mistake her for a goblin at her small stature.  
If she was lucky, she wouldn’t be noticed at all, and she swallowed as she landed on the ravaged landscape.  
  
 _Try not to stand out too much. But get the job done._  
  
A hand quietly tapped her shoulder, and she looked to see Varotin and Mira standing there, her mother already starting to regain color now that she had stepped away from the Vindicator.  
  
“Well then,” the blood mage crossed her arms, “Welcome to Argus. Shall we get started?”


	3. Road Trip and Landfall

**Road Trip**

Of all the bad decisions, traveling in a Draenei Light-blessed ship had to be the worst one that Mira had made in a long while.

Granted, being talked into going to Argus in the first place was high on that list.

She barely survived, it was a mixture of special pills she had made, Varotin holding her, and the last of the General’s verdant spheres in her possession that made the journey possible, but she knew as soon as she stepped away from the light-forged beacon it would not be one that she would be able to make again. She couldn’t even step back onto that ship, it was so saturated with brightness.

Varotin heard the worry, but Leona she kept it from.

What mattered was ensuring that the child did not stray too far in some damn crusade, and she caught her as the landing party started to take care of their issues.

Luna was happily going along with the crowd, and she frowned, debating going after the phoenix girl when Leona took off her helmet and said something.

“Mmm?” she turned to her daughter and blinked, “What was that?”

“I said that we probably should help set up base camp if we’re not going with the forward expedition,” Leona said scrunching her nose in thought, “Or are we staying with them at all? Now that we’re here, I don’t know what we’re supposed to do, only that it was important to come.”

_I should have asked for advice. Darriana or Alinith may have had information. Cero would have had guidance…_

She took a deep breath, pressed the communicator. If Luna was here, then there was a chance she followed…

Cero’s voice answered, and she exhaled a sigh of relief. She had orders now, a clear goal in mind. This she could do easily, she remembered things from when she had been here before.

It was far better than whatever the Voice of Azeroth had vaguely asked of Leona and Varotin.

“We’re to collect samples. The General needs a few things after all,” Mira smiled at the two of them, “It may be best to aid the invading force as well, until we can catch up with him.”

Her daughter nodded at that, then frowned, looking around as her eyes twitched, “Oh, there’s some close by, I can hear them,” she frowned, “But they’re crying,” she took off her gauntlet and knelt down.

Mira’s eyes widened, “Leona  _don’t!_ ” 

It was too late, the girl brushed her fingers against an outcropping of rock and immediately screamed, Varotin picking her up and holding her to him as Mira picked up the heavy glove and slipped it over her hand.

“They’re  _burning_!” Leona cried into Varotin’s shirt, “They’re in so much pain and…”

“The entire planet is…” the blood mage took another deep breath, “Keep your gloves on, don’t touch anything without them. You can hear them right? You don’t need to know the extent of…”

She paused, remembering the scars from long ago, long before Cero and Theravir gave her a new sense of purpose, when she had her Family and The Master to obey and please.

“Watch for the ones that aren’t. The ones that are corrupted… it’s easier here than it is on Azeroth to fall for it, it means an end of pain,” she closed her eyes,“We should get going, away from the main group. We have work to do after all, and…” she frowned, “We have to be careful.”

She kept the worry from Leona, but she knew Varotin heard it.

_It means an end of pain.  
_

_Please let Cero’s doll hold… because if it falls again, like it did at Broken Shore…  
_

_I’m not strong enough!_

“You don’t have to be, we’re with you.”

She glanced over at Varotin, who was smiling at her as he held their daughter, “I’m going to be your death,” she whispered.

Leona hopped down and took Mira’s hand, “Come on Mama, let’s go find a place to set up camp. Since I can hear them, I can probably keep us from getting too close to those other rocks,” she smiled as the girl glanced behind her, searching the shadows, more than likely to see if her friend had followed them, “…but we better set up the house tent. I don’t want to accidentally roll on the stones in my sleep.”

“I needed the more stable environment to make the laboratory,” she chuckled at her daughter’s face, “Don’t worry, I always come prepared.”

“ _HEY!_ ” Varotin yelled after them as he ran to catch up, “We’re on vacation! No work!”

“But Papa,” Leona sighed, “ _We’re_  here for work too, remember? Official Family Business and all that?”

Mira chuckled, “Besides, who says work isn’t fun?”


	4. Camp

**Camp**

It had taken them a bit to find a safe place beneath a natural cliff, and one on stable ground… Leona had to check on that one… and Mira set about planting her wards, then took a small colorful ball from her bag, a gift from Cero that she had not used before, and followed his instructions, pressing the top before tossing it to the center of the cleared space, then watched as the small cottage sprang up.  
  
“Mama… did you ask the General to set some sort of shielding…?” Leona chewed the inside of her cheek, “Er…” she gestured towards the place, “How is that  _not_  noticeable?”  
  
“What do you mean dearest?” Mira tapped her chin, “It’s a perfectly normal cottage.”  
  
It was. Perfectly normal cottage like the ones found in Elwynn Forest, with nice thatching, white walls with flowers stenciled in the corners, it even, based on the windows with perfectly normal flower boxes filled with medicinal herbs, looked to have a loft to sleep in and, based on a happy chimney, a fire pit of sorts that Leona hoped that she could keep Mama well away from. The place was perfect…  _except_ that this wasn’t Elwynn Forest. They were on Argus. 

Leona was fairly certain that the demons around here may want to investigate such a thing, no matter how nice it looked, and she looked up to Papa, silently asking for his help on the matter.  
  
“I’d thought she’d get the candy one…” he said, then twisted to peer under the foundation, “And no chicken leg?” He quickly caught his daughter before she face planted onto more corrupted Argus rocks.  
  
“Well, I suppose we can fight off any that…” Leona’s voice trailed off as she covered the ears, Opal was yelling at her, and she turned red as she remembered that she never did write that letter to either of her uncles after the Trials.  
  
Mira frowned as she turned back to her daughter when she burst into tears, the small girl saying that she had to go check on Uncle Saeris  _right now_ , and she contacted Serene straight away to set up a safe portal to Atlas.  
  
“You head straight there, and I’ll summon you back when you’re ready,” she calmed down considerably at the blood mage’s words, “We can’t do anything in the meantime anyways, we need to set up the defense fields and I’ll need your Father for that. When you return you can do that Important Mission that Azeroth gave to you,” Varotin ruffled his daughter’s hair, “Don’t pick up any other missions, we’ll be a little busy as it is… but take care of your uncles,” Mira frowned, pausing a moment to make the entrance on this side, “Serene’s waiting on the other side, we’ll close the portal after you pass through, but I can summon you to us no matter where you are.”  
  
Leona nodded and vanished through the portal, and Mira sighed, crossing her arms, glancing at Varotin.

“Well, I suppose we better set up house while we wait for her to get back,”she smiled as she went into the cottage, “Might as well make the most of this unexpected time to ourselves.”


	5. Hope and Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mira grounds Leona for the first time after an incident... but is it really just because Leona had lied to her?

**Hope and Fear**

Leona stared at the sea, hugging her knees, and tried very hard to not look at the giant burning planet in the sky as her cheeks burned and her ears wilted.  
  
She never actually thought Mira would punish her with much more than an extra shot. Or by going into the kitchen.  
  
But  _grounding?  
_  
Despite everything she smiled, she had read stories of normal families, this was a  _normal_  family type thing. She had lied after all. And Mama had caught her.  
  
Kit  _never_  would have grounded her.  
  
But Uncle Rizzy had before. So had Uncle Saeris.

It just went to prove who her real family members were. The ones that cared enough to tell her,  _“Stop. Don’t. That’s dangerous.”  
_  
She chewed her bottom lip, Mama had told her to enjoy being a child, but…  
  
There was _still_ the Voice of Azeroth. Still the duty of being an Oathblood and a Black Dragon… a  _non-corrupted_  Black Dragon.  
    
 _I need to get back to Argus.  
_  
All of Atlas had heard Darnath on the communicators… and even if she could somehow prove to Mr. Wren that she could handle herself, he’d never approve her as an employee. He said it himself, a twelve year old had no business on a battlefield.  
  
 _And Mr. Zaer would probably have a heart attack if he heard that I was trying to get there…_  
  
She puffed out her cheeks,  “Dangerous or not, I still have to protect everyone. Papa and Mama are going to get into some sort of weird trouble without me,” she flopped back onto the beach and then did stare at the planet in the sky, “But I’m grounded… to Azeroth…” she smiled, “I guess I better get back to training. I’ve got to get a lot stronger…”  
  
There were a lot of strong people already going to Argus.  
  
She wouldn’t make that much of a difference.  
  
Still…  
  
“Be safe Papa and Mama… but I’ll come rescue you guys if something happens. Promise.”

* * *

Mira crossed her arms, taking off the communicator as she whirled to Varotin, “AND YOU…” she smiled as it turned off, leaving the device on the table, and instead pressed her earring and contacted Serene, holding a finger up to him as she asked her student to gather what information she could.  
  
After a few moments, she walked over to him, crossing her arms as she looked up at him, “Dearest, she can be the hero of Azeroth and protector of stones and all of that all she wants, but we are not going to hide anything from family any longer. Besides, those Trials were bad enough… you and I will handle things here for her.”  
  
She frowned, then blushed glancing away, “And now  _I’m_  not being completely honest…  And that can no longer stand, not between us…”  
  
How best to explain…?  
  
“I can feel them Varotin.”  
  
She sat down next to him, “Both of my elder sisters are here… if Leona were to come back now…” she shook her head, “They excel at finding the thing most precious to you and then torturing it. They’d make me…” she shivered, “Varotin, I have to be strong enough, and I’m not entirely sure I am. This was a bad idea.”

Even if they had come purely to meet and either fight her family or somehow stronghold them into approving Varotin as she originally agreed to…

  
“I can already feel the invitation to go back to them… And the trick we did at Broken Shore won’t work here. Neither one of us prepared for it. And if Leona came back and heard that the dwarven King has even more…” she took a shuddering breath, “I’d rather her be safe for now than fulfill your family’s duty. We’ll take care of that somehow.”  
  
Her daughter being grounded was mostly because Leona had lied.  
  
Mira frowned at that, she  _knew_  Varotin and Leona were lying… or at least not telling the whole truth… when she accepted the vacation.  
  
But still… they were family… and she didn’t want the sort of family she had before. Nor more lies… not between each other.   
  
She was happy that the girl had gone back to check on her Uncles… it gave her the chance to gather some strength lost during the trip, to send out her own little spies to prepare for what was ahead.  
  
The succubus could feel Cero’s Doll breaking already, and she was frightened.  
  
“I’m not strong enough to lose her Varotin. We’ll handle things and let her be a child. She has time now for it.” **  
**


	6. Preparation

**Preparation**

Once there were thirteen siblings. Mira and Levi, the seventh and thirteenth born, shared a father, the rest of the brood had differing ones, though it was theoried that Beatricia and Lillithia shared the same as well, they were either twins or so close in age that it didn’t matter, and the only one that knew the truth, the third sister Ysolde, had died and been absorbed long ago to keep that secret.  
  
Even before the Legion, they had worked together in all things, and Beatricia took pride in her rare sunshine gold hair and large blue eyes that made sinners of saints and marauders out of crusaders while Lillithia took great care to ensure that every little bit of power, every little bit of desire fueled the two of them, with the allotment for their Master carefully measured so they always paid the proper tribute.  
  
They were two of the most powerful succubi in the Legion’s arsenal, only a very few, Mira’s mother among them, had enough power to stand toe to toe with them… even fewer could surpass them.  
  
And when anyone did stand up to them, they were generally defeated and absorbed by the two… which accounted for a great deal of their power now.  
  
Mira had not seen either since they ate the eighth sibling, Naminea, nearly two years ago. Mira fought them then, and nearly lost had it not been for their brother’s arrival.  
  
Flare had been with her then. This time he elected to stay at the Atlas laboratory with Serene, refusing to even look at Argus when it appeared, and quite frankly Mira couldn’t blame the former demon hunter.  
  
This time only Varotin was with her, despite her boast then of the entirety of the Wings coming to face them.  
  
This was personal. There was no need to divert any of her allies from their current missions.  
  
Even so, Mira tapped on the communicators in her hand in code, it would broadcast to both the General and to Darnath.   
  
The two stared at her, smirking from across the battlefield, and she only stared back, not letting any emotion show on her face, for now simply waiting.  
  
 _“Where’s that army you boasted about Sister? Where’s the former master of yours? Come to face us all alone then?”_  
  
She didn’t answer, merely let a small smile come to her lips, raising her hand and quietly replacing the communicator in her ear as she tucked her hair behind it.  
  
They disappeared, laughing as they did so, already counting her as defeated, only a matter of time before her power was added to their own, and the calm of the storm that was this Fel and Void tainted battlefield ended, and once again Varotin and Mira were back to back, fighting against old allegiances of hers.  
  
Her family had discounted Varotin because he had no power insofar as they were concerned. Even with the intelligence given to them by their spies, he only seemed a fool. One that could easily be discarded and one that was purely her pet.  
  
Mira knew that their underestimating her fiance was to be their biggest mistake. She had not won yet, not by a long shot, but she had a power that they would never understand, not when they used up all others… and if the other part of her plan worked…  
  
Varotin picked her up, twirling her away from a large doomguards axe and she smirked as she incinerated the demon, then kissed her future husband deeply.  
  
“You and Leona may have a point about defeating them before we can marry,” she whispered as they went back to the battle, “Those two are notorious for crashing weddings… and I’ll have none of that.”

 


	7. Blessings

**Blessings**

They were at the wards, waiting on her.  
  
Mira placed down her communicator, the bloodstone earrings and flames appeared in her hands as she destroyed the only things that could lead them to the ones she left behind.   
  
Aura and Serene would understand, she had discussed the possibility with her students when the Legion first attacked. Plans had been made to ensure that the General’s important research would be completed, that they would be safe. Now that the laboratory was on Atlas, she knew they had a place to belong. Darnath and Zaerathian would not let them be harmed in any way.  
  
Taladren wouldn’t even remember her after a while, he was young enough and he had his mother now. Raine understood, she had made that decision before to save Kit. Mira and the priestess were of one accord when it came to this…  
  
Leona would not accept this.  
  
Despite the girl’s tendency to rush headfirst into a fight, her decision at the Trials, her sheer recklessness for her own safety when it came to the protection of others, she knew that Leona would never forgive her or Varotin for the decision they were making now.  
  
She put the girl officially under Rizzy’s care last night, choosing that instead of her original plan of having Zaerathian watch her when he had messaged her to make a case for Leona.  
  
Vonic was watching her from deep within the earth, Saeris and Rizzy were watching her from their home by the sea.  
  
She may never forgive them, but she would be  _safe_. Time would heal her.  
  
 _“It’s easy to die for someone you love, but how come you can’t fight to live for them? Wouldn’t that be better?”  
_  
The Young Mistress’s words came back to haunt her.  
  
 _Leona and I just had a fight on taking things alone. On lying about that sort of thing… that none of us should…_  
  
Varotin is with me. I’m trusting in the bond.  
  
There was a chance that they would actually come out of this fight…  
  
Mira closed her eyes. Her father would erase everything Cero had done, he promised as such last night when he attacked her wards. Her sisters would not absorb her… they wouldn’t dare go against her father… but…  
  
Her last minutes of freedom were here and now.  
  
The ring on her finger glinted and she smiled sadly at it before looking up to Varotin, before walking over and putting her arms around his shoulders.  
  
Who had taught her how to hug? Theravir? The Young Mistress?  
  
Tears flowed as she lost herself in it, this simple touch that most succubi just ignored in their lessons of seduction and pleasure.  
  
When she had released Darriana, she realized that just this alone gave her more substance than an entire room of carnal pleasures. Such a simple thing…  
  
Her last act of freedom.  
  
She would trust in Cero’s strength, in Theravir’s kindness.  
  
Varotin would be by her side, she’d trust in their bond.  
  
Leona was safe on Azeroth. The ones there would ensure that her daughter would remain protected.  
  
“I love you,” she whispered, then smiled at him, “…let’s go get my father’s blessing.”  
  
She needed to come and face them anyways. Leona was right on that, and not just because the stories said so.  
    
Yet the child didn’t know that the good guys didn’t always win just yet… it was some small hope that she still clung to, and she knew that Leona, despite everything, still held on to the belief that there really was such a thing as justice.  
  
That despite being born a demon, there was hope.   
  
Mira hoped that would be something that her daughter would change in this universe. **  
**


	8. Her Secret Wish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Terribly cute idea I had. But since the terribly cute idea has to be waaaaaaaaaay in the future and also approved by the other person on the Mira/Varo ship, you guys can have this instead :3

**Her Secret Wish**

Mira wondered how she had gotten back to Atlas island, the last thing she remembered…  
  
“Come on kid,” said a voice, and she turned to see Leona… only a much older Leona… patiently waiting on someone outside their apartments, “You’ll like this surprise, promise, besides, we need to let Papa and Mama celebrate their wedding anniversary.”  
  
This was some years from now, Leona looked to have just entered adulthood, and Mira stepped closer as the child came out.  
  
She was roughly a few years younger than the age Leona was now, with long hair a shade or two lighter than Leona’s pulled into twin tails and wearing a colorful sundress with a large messenger bag slung across her chest and shoulder, “Big Sister, what is it?”  
  
Mira stared at the features that could only be described as a perfect blend between hers and Varotin’s.  
  
 _She has his eyes…  
_  
“You’ll have to wait until we get to the Rookery,” Leona hefted the child up to her shoulders, “It’s a good surprise, promise.”  
  
“Are they hatching?” the girl said happily, “Hurry up, hurry up!” she gasped, “The Rook'ry’s THAT way!” she pointed, “LEE!”  
  
“Oh no, I’m a tired dragon,” Leona teased, “I might have to go to take a nap…”  
  
“No! No! The Rook'ry! Lee!”  
  
“Be patient then, what’s Papa’s first lesson?”  
  
“He loves Mama?”  
  
“…his second lesson…” Leona giggled, “Scratch that… his tenth lesson.”  
  
The girl pouted, “Just ‘cause we have to be patient doesn’t mean you take the long way!”  
  
The older redhead gave in and they headed straight there, and Mira followed, blinking as the scene changed again.  
  
“Alright, deep breaths,” Leona said gently, “Close your eyes and…” she placed a rose colored stone into the girl’s outstretched hands, “Alright, what does she want to be?”  
  
The girl scrunched her nose in thought as her ears twitched, “Uh… uh… a dragon! But like Udon, not like you!”  
  
Leona smiled, “Cloud serpents are cute. Alright kid, open your eyes,” the girl did as she told, watching with wide eyes as her elder sister concentrated on the gem which started to mold and shape itself until it was a small Pandaren dragon that floated up to her and kissed her nose.  
  
“Alright, I’m going to make a nest for her,” Leona took out some silver wire as the girl gently petted the stone noodle, “And then you can wear her as a necklace. Between her and Udon, you’ll  _always_  be protected.”  
  
Mira smiled as she sat and watched the two, this time not surprised when the scene changed again and they were on Leona’s boat in the middle of the ocean as she showed her younger sister how to fish or how to sail.  
  
 _She’s so patient with her…  
_  
 _I wished for sisters like that once.  
_  
Pain erupted all around her and she was pulled from that dream to find herself restrained in the fel-tainted fortress, peered at by the two that had captured here.  
  
“The Seventh isn’t broken yet?” Beatricia hissed, “How is that possible?”  
  
“Father told us to take it slow with her,” Lillithia frowned, “But she should have succumbed by now. How is she withstanding us?!?”  
  
Mira didn’t look at them, only listened.  
  
They wouldn’t understand. The dream was coming from a small wish she once had, one that had only been given power to grow by her time on Azeroth.  
  
Family was not important to these two except for as a means to get what they wanted.  
  
Once more pain broke over her, once more the scene changed.  
  
“Mama come on!” the girl that looked like her and Varotin pulled at her hand, “Lee says that a family picture’s no good without ev'ryone in it!”  
  
Varotin waved at her from where he was standing next to where Leona was having a hushed argument with a grown up Talah, and Serene was smiling, not taking her eyes off of Aura as he fiddled with the camera.  
  
Mira stopped, staring for a long moment, “…he’ll take this… he’ll break me with this…”  
  
“No he won’t Mama, he’s not sending this, _I am_.”  
  
Mira blinked and looked at the girl, “But I’m not…”  
  
She smiled, “Auntie Darri and the General taught me a few tricks. You’re not, but you’ve got the idea of me, right? I can use that, besides I have a few spells that Lee strong-armed out of some people she fought with. I’m just a dream now, so I can’t do much, but I can keep him from breaking you.”  
  
“And how do I know this isn’t a trap.”  
  
“Simple Mama. What’s my name?”  
  
Mira paused, looking at the girl and then slowly smiling, “You tell me. There’s only one name I would give a daughter of my own.”  
  
“Well then,” the girl bowed, “My name is Terra Velaine Oathblood. Does that make things better?”  
  
The blood-mage smiled, “Much. But… the dream can’t last forever.”  
  
“It doesn’t have to Mama. Just a little to give you strength,” she grinned, “No rush though. And Lee goes back to being a kid every time Tally dies. So I’m not telling you how far off this future is, that’d be _spoilers_.”


	9. Letters and Hope

**Letters and Hope**

_The postmaster came quietly while Leona was at her mission and Atlas island and left two letters, both handwritten, both with the seal that Mira had made for herself based on the General’s seal._

_Saeris,_  
  
_If you are reading this, then I have been missing for at least a week, possibly longer. There’s a bank account in Silvermoon, below is the information you will need to access it._  
  
_The worst has yet to happen, there’ll be a more official message then, but… I knew going to Argus that there was a chance of this. My former family is not one that is easily dealt with. Of the adults that care for her, there are two that I trust explicitly with her well-being, and she chose you._  
  
_In the case of Varotin’s and my death, I want you to take guardianship over Leona._  
  
_You’ll have support from Atlas and from Crimson Wings, and the entirety of that account is in your hands._  
  
_Please take care of my daughter. And above all, do not let her come back to Argus to attempt to find us… there are things here that I do not wish for her to know. It’s not her burden, and she already takes on so much._  
  
_I’m not leaving a letter for her in the event I go missing, but there is one linked to my life that will be delivered long before anyone else learns of my death. There’s still hope now, slim as it may be._  
  
_But that’s the lesson that she gave me. I choose to be prepared for the worst, but I will trust in that wisdom, that there is always a way home._  
  
_Keep her safe. Thank you for being her uncle._  
 _Mira A._

* * *

_Rizzy,_  
  
I’ve linked these letters to my communication stones, and if silence has come from my end for at least a week, then they are to be sent out. Saeris has just been informed he’s to be Leona’s guardian in case worse news comes.  
  
I will fight. I can promise that much at least, Varotin and I will fight as hard as we can.  
  
…I cannot promise that we will win or survive.  
  
Keep Leona from Argus. Only death and pain is here, and I was wrong to agree to taking her in the first place. I wasn’t honest when I grounded her for lying, and that’s my regret, our family may end with lies and distrust.  
I don’t even trust you all that much, though as far as Leona is concerned, you do have a bit more weight than others. She loves you, and she does listen to you, you can find a way to make this better.  
  
If she smiles again after hearing of her father’s death, I know it will be because of you. You did so much for her already… even if it was part in taking a shadowed path. She’s not the same girl she was a year ago, that girl chased us to Broken Shore and nearly died… she barely believed in herself, and would have fallen prey to that corruption if left alone.   
  
There’s not a chance of that now, and you were a part of that.  
  
Thank you for watching over our treasure,  
Mira A.   
**  
**

Mira gasped awake, finding herself in a cell in the bottom of her father’s citadel, and ran to the bars, carefully peering through them to the hallway beyond.  
  
_I’m still alive… and the torture stopped…_  
  
_Why?_  
  
There was coughing behind her, and she glanced to see Varotin moan as he curled into himself for warmth, and she frowned, walking to him and letting a few flames dance on her fingers as she put his head in her lap and stroked his hair.  
  
“Maybe there’s hope we’ll get through this after all,” she said quietly, “Either the Army of Light has his full attention, or something else is happening. We might be able to escape…”  
  
Her father wouldn’t  _let_  her.  
  
She chewed the inside of her cheek, she may be able to get past her sisters… but never  _him_. He’d lay out a trap for them.  
  
Still…   
  
“You need your strength, the next rat I see in this cell, I’ll roast him up,” she whispered, “We may not have a large opportunity, but we’ll get home to her.”  
  
Can she keep that promise?  
…  
It was worth a shot at least.


	10. Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...somehow Mira and Varotin defeat her father and return home... and the threat from Argus gone, things go back to normal...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At some point Cero and I will sit down and actually get *how* Mira and Varotin beat all that, but for right now, the Dreadlord she thought her father tried to control her with her name... and used the wrong one, and she was able to retaliate and seal him.
> 
> More on that later.

**Morning**

Mira blinked awake to once again find three dragons, herself, and her fiance piled together in her bed.  
  
Granted, Leona she didn’t mind snuggled between her and Varotin, Udon…  _make that four dragons_ … curled on the witch’s hat the small girl had worn as part of her costume, and she actually appreciated Serene and Aura snuggled up at her back… it made waking up her students a bit easier.   
  
But she was going to have to get a bigger bed. Especially if they were still sleeping in there in the next few months when shedding began all over again.

_Varotin and Leona are sleeping in today._  
  
She chuckled to herself as the small red head sat up suddenly, almost as if she were summoned by the thought as she rubbed her eyes, “Ack! Papa! Wake up, we need to get going!”  
  
“It’s too early,” Serene mumbled into Mira’s back as she turned to curl into Aura, and the blood mage took the chance to get up herself, stealing a kiss from Varotin as he did the same.  
  
“I’ll go make the coffee…” she started.  
  
 _“LIKE HELL YOU WILL!”_  Serene was wide awake then and running from the room into the kitchen before Mira had the chance to get in there, Aura sleepily blinking and grabbing her glasses just as a thunk was heard where her student ran into a wall.  
  
“Mama, that’s the meanest way you’ve woken her up yet,” Leona gave her a look and she tried very hard to look innocent, “Oh! I think Talah and I are going on our secret mission to Stormheim soon, we better do extra training today Papa.”  
  
The rest of the morning was slightly  _less_  chaotic, Aura had started breakfast by the time Varotin and Leona left on their morning exercises and Mira made it to the kitchen, and Serene was rubbing a large bump on her forehead and leaned over her coffee.  
  
“We’ll start the Phoenix research today,” Mira said as she sat down, “Though not until this afternoon, I’ll head over to the Rookery to check in with Zaerathian and see what’s needed there, and then go find Raine and find out when we can expect the skin ointments for shedding season.”  
  
“Don’t remind me,” Serene groaned, “I already have a sun-burn from rescuing you.”  
  
“If you can give me a few scales, we could test to see if we can make some sort of protective cream for you,” Mira pointed out as she poured some tea for herself, “I imagine that most of the pain you associate with your dragon form is because of sensitivity to light and heat.”  
  
Her student grumbled at that and got up to get another cup of coffee, then sighed, “…actually that isn’t a bad idea. Might as well run blood work too, get ourselves back in the groove of things.”  
  
“Nothing but laboratory work for me for the next year,” Mira promised, “I get far too behind when I go off on fool adventures.” **  
**  
That earned her a wry smile from her students, and they ate breakfast in silence before going their separate ways for the morning work.

 


End file.
